Quebec City, QC – For the first time in school history, a Gryphons women's basketball player has been named CIS Rookie of the Year. Saturday night (March 11) in Quebec City, first year point guard Bridget Atkinson (Welland, ON) took home the Kathy Shields Award as the top rookie in the country. In doing so, Bridget becomes just the third Gryphons women's basketball player ever to receive a major CIS award.
 
NOTE: In 1996-1997 Karen Arnott won the Tracy MacLeod Award for determination, perseverance and unwaivering spirt & in 2006-2007 Stephanie Yallin won the Sylvia Sweeney Award for excellence in basketball, academics & community involvement.
 
For Bridget, standing on stage and receiving an individual award of this magnitude is a bit awkward. After all, she is a pass-first point guard. Atkinson, a member of Team Canada's U18 squad that won a silver medal this past summer at the U18 FIBA Americas in Colorado Springs, in true point guard fashion was quick to deflect praise to her teammates. "Starting in my first year in the OUA was intimidating and there was an adjustment period to be able to play with the intensity required at this level. But the vets took me in, Barb (Barbara Inrig-Pieterse), Kate (Katherine MacTavish), Vanessa (Rampado) , they all helped me to get comfortable and play my best." Atkinson's best was certainly good enough as she quickly emerged as one of the best players on the floor. Bridget finished the year with an average of 10.9 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, and 82 total assists on the season – good for third in the OUA.  Her tenacious play at the defensive end of the court is what makes Bridget such a special player, and was a big reason why U.S.-based schools like Yale, Vermont, Detroit-Mercy, Providence and San Diego were after her.  So why Guelph?

"I wanted to go somewhere where I could make a difference and help build something special. I fell in love with Guelph's campus and its overall feel and am so glad I made this choice." Gryphons head coach Christin Dickenson is glad too, "Bridget has had a tremendous impact on our program as a freshman. Her passion for the game combined with her coachabliity maker her extremely valuable to our team. She is a very strong leader, but she does so with a great deal of humility." Atkinson certainly was able to "build something special" in high school where she led the Welland Centennial Cougars to OFSSAA on three separate occasions. If she makes Canada's Junior Team again, then she will be off to Russia in the summer of 2015 to compete in the U19 FIBA World Championships. And when she returns from Russia, she will head back to U of G's campus to get back to working towards her next "something special" – helping the Gryphons capture the third OUA title in program history, and first since 2004-2005.